St. Luke's University Health Network has opened a 52,000-square-foot orthopedic hospital in South Whitehall Township, Pa., according to a Dec. 13 report from The Morning Call.
The facility, built into St. Luke's West End Medical Center campus, is equipped to handle same-day hip, knee, spine, hand and shoulder surgeries.
The $44 million facility has eight operating rooms and 24 rooms for pre- and postoperative care, along with support, auxiliary space and waiting rooms.
The system is also hiring 80 nurses, technicians, therapists and other roles to staff the hospital.
The hospital will also be equipped with a Velys robot-assisted orthopedic surgery system to help surgeons with information-gathering and decision-making during knee surgery.
St. Luke's orthopedic specialists complete about 15,000 musculoskeletal surgeries every year. The Bethlehem, Pa.-based network estimates that orthopedic surgeons will perform nearly 3,000 elective operations in the new hospital alone during 2024. It will open its doors to patients beginning Dec. 18.